Book Information: Hothouse, the

The Hothouse refers to the city of Bonn with its warm, damp climate, but it also refers to the political environment of the temporary capital of divided postwar Germany, where politics became more about compromise and half measures than principled change.

Keetenheuve is a sophisticated and idealistic intellectual, a German politician who returned from self-imposed exile during the war. Until this point, he led a life guided by principle and political optimism. Ultimately, his idealism proves to be his downfall. As he attempts to break with the past and introduce pacifist politics into the newly founded German republic, Keetenheuve encounters only the antagonism of his self-interested political colleagues. The Hothouse traces the tragic final two days in the life of this decidedly moral man, disillusioned by political corruption and depressed by the sudden loss of his wife.